"With the economy in crisis and Missouri families struggling to make ends meet, it's too bad that some would rather launch false attacks and distractions instead of focusing on the issues that really matter in this election. While John McCain will offer nothing more than four more years of the same failed policies of the Bush Administration, Senator Obama will offer 95 percent of working families a tax cut, keep jobs from going overseas, and turn our economy around," says Missouri Democratic Party spokesperson Jack Cardetti.

***

CHRISTIAN COUNTY G.O.P. CHAIR EXPLAINS:

"Yes, I was aware of the fliers," says Christian County Republican Chair Ed Merritt. "The party is not distributing those. Some voter asked us if he could leave them here, and we agreed. It was poor judgement on my part," Merritt adds. Asked why the party allowed the fliers to be distributed, Merritt says, "There's no excuse. They are now gone."

***

MISSOURI G.O.P. RESPONDS:

"The Missouri GOP condemns the offensive and divisive nature of this flier," says Missouri Republican Party spokesperson Tina Hervey. "We were unaware of the flier, and we were highly disappointed to learn of its existence," she adds. "The sentiments in this flier are not tolerated by Missourians looking to create a brighter future for their children, nor do they reflect the Missouri of the 21st Century," Hervey says.

***WATCH ONE NIXA VOTER RESPOND TO THE FLIER BELOW***

MORE OF MY CONVERSATION WITH REPUBLICAN DAN BOYD, AND WHY HE BELIEVES OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST AND COMMUNIST BELOW

FINALLY, AN INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN OBSBORNE, A NIXA REPUBLICAN WHO SAYS HE'S "TOTALLY AGAINST" THE FLIERS, AND CALLED ON THE G.O.P. TO REMOVE THEM.

9 comments:

I believe the First Amendment protects even vile, ignorant, racist speech. That's good to know, since that is what the Christian County gop is specializing in. Don't worry, it will soon be over for them. Then they'll have time to enjoy President Obama, Governor Nixon, big Democratic majorities in the Senate and the House. Have a nice election day.

... Though you need to embed the full report as it aired tonight else it's not going to get the national attention it deserves.

The fact that these flyers were made is bad enough, but when you add on the facts that it occurred at the local GOP office and that Palin is in Springfield tomorrow morning... well, it makes this nothing short of a Klan Rally.

Again, kudos for the report.

(Please tell your web person/people to build KY3 a site that isn't horrible to navigate. It looks like a NASCAR. Post-crash.)

From Sunday's Televised "Meet the Press" Senator Obama was askedabout his stance on the American Flag. Obama Explains National Anthem Stance Sun, 07 Sept. 2008 11:48:04 EST, General Bill Ginn' USAF (ret.) asked Obama to explain why he doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.The General also stated to the Senator that according to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter10, Sec. 171...During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, allpresent except those in uniform are expected to stand at attentionfacing the flag with the right hand over the heart. At the very least,"Stand and Face It"

Senator Obama Live on Sunday states, "As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides, Obama said. 'There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the Anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it."We should consider to reinvent our National Anthem as well as to redesign our Flag to better offer our enemies hope and love. My wifedisrespects the Flag for many personal reasons. Together she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past, many years ago. She has her views and I have mine".

WHAAAAAAAT !!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it right. This could possibly be our next President. I, for one, am speechless.

NEW YORK In recent months, conservatives have been caught red-faced spreading smears about Barack Obama via emails and blogs and Web sites, their sources eventually unmasked as tainted or non-existent people. Now here's another example, but this one is a little different--the source is a Washington Post reporter named Dale Lindsborg.

Of course, there is no Dale Lindsborg at the Post (or seemingly anywhere) but when did that get in the way of a good smear?

Even a giveaway line in his alleged account where Obama endorses an old Coke commercial song as our new national anthem did not deter some from believing it and making it "viral."

For at least two weeks the "Lindsborg" account of an Obama appearance on "Meet the Press" on Sept. 7 has been rocketing around the world and back again via email and the Internet, sometimes showing up at reputable sites -- such as the Post itself -- in their Comments sections. Someone even brought it up on Wednesday in an online chat with Washington Post reporter Ann Kornblut at the paper's site. She said she knew of no Lindsborg but would check on it (hey, put Bob Woodward on the case).

The charge is the old familiar tale of Obama not believing in honoring the flag, and hating America, with the new twist that he said this on "Meet the Press" a month ago (somehow the world missed this) and that it has been confirmed by the aforementioned Dale Lindsborg.

It was debunked this week on the Snopes.com site, which traced it back to a satiric entry at an obscure site that was taken seriously and spread widely.

The giveaway should have been Obama saying he wanted to junk our "bellicose" national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner," and replace it with the more peaceful "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" -- adding that if that was our anthem "then I might salute it."

He supposedly then added, "It's my intention, if elected, to disarm America to the level of acceptance to our Middle East Brethren." And: "My wife disrespects the Flag for many personal reasons. Together she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past, many years ago."

Reporter "Lindsborg" then winds up his account: "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it right. This could possibly be our next President. I, for one, am speechless."

Taylor Batten, editorial page editor at the Charlotte Observer, commented yesterday at one of his paper's blogs, "Come on, people. You're e-mailing this to all your friends, in a panic, in disbelief that this man is leading in the polls.

"Here's an idea: think for yourself! Spend, oh, 10 seconds on Google and see if there really is a"Dale Lindsborg at the Washington Post. Spend 30 seconds seeing if Obama was even ON the Sept. 7 'Meet the Press.' Are you so predisposed to one candidate or the other that you can't think critically?"

Also, an interesting email from a reader below.*By chance I got a Google alert yesterday about this item, referring to "Dale Lindsborg." We got it because we live in Lindsborg, Kansas.

The interesting thing is the name, since (to my knowledge) this is the one and only "Lindsborg" in the world. It is a Swedish-American community and the name was invented for it by the pioneers. Furthermore there are no family names of "Lindsborg."

So, one suspicion might be that the name "Dale Lindsborg" had to come from somebody who knows of our town (or maybe even lives here? Perish the thought!) It's a town of only 3,000 so I doubt our fame has spread very far or for somebody to just invented that name by chance.

Thanks for the fine piece. That was a stunning bit of smear-mongering and deserves to be exposed in the light of day.

David - thanks for directing me to the full report. I didn't mean to come off too harsh on the ky3 site. It's just that I'm a webdev guy... and yet I had to call the station to find your blog.

So, I'm sitting here thinking about all of the people that would've loved to have commented, or even seen the extra footage, but just couldn't find the link. To be blunt, that sucks.

You did a fine job. All three of you did a fine job... I'm glad I was actually watching.

In regards to American Patriot's comment - Journalism is biased. You can't get around that. Balancing the personal passions of the journalist, the social responsibilities of the journalist, and the employer's requirements of the journalist is a difficult task. One might even say unachievable. However, the heart and soul of investigative reporting lies tangled in that unachievable balance.

All of us equally share the responsibility of interpretation and communication, thus "positive" and "negative" are merely relative terms.

The film "Gone, Baby, Gone" showcases my point fairly well. If you haven't seen it, please do. And then get back to me on social positives and social negatives. Right and wrong.

With all due respect to The Project for Excellence in Journalism - perspective negates percentages, or vice versa... however you choose to view it.

I'd also add: Gandhi didn't fight fire with fire. Nor did Jesus. Probably because they both realized that fire plus fire equals... well, more fire.

Lastly... to, eh, Mr, Justice - Do us all a favor and stop getting your 'facts' from email messages that have "FWD:FWD:FWD:" in the subject line.

I called the GOP Headquarters in Jefferson City and let them know that everytime I received a nasty robocall or negative mailer I was giving a donation to the Democrats. Well, in honor of this story, I will be stopping by tomorrow and giving a sizable donation. It's the least I can do, and to vote of course.